No nation should be left behind in crafting post-2015 development agenda: GA President

Vuk Jeremic, President of the 67th session of the UN General Asssembly

The President of the General Assembly on Thursday called for the participation of all nations in crafting a sustainable development agenda after 2015, the deadline for fulfilling the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

Vuk Jeremić spoke at the first meeting of the Open Working Group of the General Assembly on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGS).

He said the process of formulating the SDGs will be a complicated one, requiring great diplomatic skill.

Mr. Jeremić stressed that fulfilling the goals of eradicating extreme poverty should be the starting point and also called for addressing other issues, such as food insecurity, the environment and climate change.

"I personally believe that never before have we had to face such a complex and interdependent set of existential challenges. In my view, defining the post-2015 development agenda is about crafting a new global partnership in which no nation is left behind, and no country opts out. If ever a true, aspirational consensus has been needed in the United Nations, it is now. We must come together in common cause, with a single purpose: to make a universal transition to sustainability in a way that equitably addresses the needs of humanity for the 21st century."(34")

The President of the General Assembly said that by the third quarter of 2014, the Member States should be in a position to promulgate the Sustainable Development Goals.

He said these goals are the single-most important element of the post-2015 agenda.